Decision Made for 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open Payouts after Chip Scandal

For months, everyone involved in the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open has been wondering how the payouts will be handled. For the past several months an investigation has been taking place for the counterfeit chip incident that took place during the actual tournament. According to PokerNews, David Rebuck, the Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has now released a final order for payouts of the event.

The event was messed up royally by Christian Lusardi, who put the fake chips into game play. According to the released order, the Borgata Casino will have to distribute $1,721,805 to eligible entrants of the tournament. This amount includes $1,433,145 and the money that Borgata collected from the tournament entries. Each entry cost $60 and created a total of just over $288,000.

The order released the way that payouts would take place. There were 2,143 entrants who may not have been impacted directly by the fake chips so they will earn $560 each which will include the $60 entry fee. An amount of $50,893 in prize money has yet to be paid to players who were already eliminated and this will be dispersed as well. The players who were left competing in the tournament when the chips were discovered, 27 in total, will be paid $19,323.

It was on January 18th that the Winter Poker Open $2 Million Guarantee was suspended and then cancelled after the counterfeit chips were discovered during the tournament. After a short investigation, it was discovered that Lusardi was the culprit and had entered the tournament during Day 2 and even had the chip lead. 2.7 million Fake chips were found at the casino in a sewer pipe a week later and the investigation revealed that the chips had been in the room in which the clog generated.

At least for now, a decision has been made and players will be able to put this debacle behind them. After months, players are sure to be happy about having the money back now that the decision has been made.